Reader Suggestions to Prevent Polymer Clay Cracking

Hi Eileen,

I wanted to add a comment to the question: Why Do My Polymer Clay Pieces Crack So Easily? - But I could not figure out how to do it in the website.

I have been reading several books and just started experimenting with polymer clay. One of the authors pointed out that the temperature must be exactly what the manufacturer says it should be. She recommended buying an oven thermometer to get an accurate reading and not relying on the oven for that. If the temperature is not right, the material will not fuse together well and will break easy. The only risk of over-baking is that the clay might release fumes that could be harmful.

From my first experience I found that even though my convection oven (counter small oven) was set to 300 degrees, the thermometer only marked 250. When I adjusted the oven to 350, then the thermometer reached 300. The clay did release some smoke when it got the right temperature (which I also read was normal), but next time I will bake outside just to be on the safe side. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Thanks for such a wonderful site, very inspiring.

Glenda Munguia
Beautiful Pictures by Glenda

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Thanks so much, Glenda. I visited your site and was just blown away by your beautiful photography.

Eileen

This is yet another example of our motto at work: "Crafters Helping Crafters to Be"! Don't ya just love it?